Deal bringing Senior Games to Osceola falls through

August 20, 2013|By David Breen, Orlando Sentinel

The Washington Nationals stadium wasn't the only sports-tourism deal to die in Osceola County this week.

In addition, an agreement the county made a year ago to move the headquarters of the National Senior Games to Osceola was canceled Monday, the same day the County Commission voted not to build a $98 million stadium for the Nationals.

The Senior Games' then-CEO, Chris Sophia, committed to moving from Baton Rouge, La., to Osceola last August. The organization was supposed to use a vacant building that once housed Experience Kissimmee, the county's convention and visitors bureau, as its headquarters and pay rent of only $1 a year.

In addition, the organization was to hold its signature competition in Osceola in 2016 and every other year thereafter until the deal's expiration in 2025. The Olympics-like competition for age 50-plus athletes attracts about 10,000 competitors. Those potential visitors — and their families — made the organization an attractive target for Experience Kissimmee, which made the agreement.

But Sophia was subsequently let go by the Senior Games, and its board decided not to relocate, said Deputy County Manager Beth Knight.

"It's their contention that he did not have the authority" to sign the deal with Osceola, she said. The county did not contest the organization's decision, she said.

The National Senior Games Association did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment.

Commission Chairman Frank Attkisson, who voted against the agreement at the time, said he had "no regrets whatsoever" about its cancellation.

"That organization wasn't going to deliver what West [U.S. Highway] 192 needs, which is room nights," he said of the county's tourism corridor. "We need better deals."

Knight left open the possibility that even without the headquarters move, the games themselves could some day be staged in Osceola. "We'll compete for that," she said.